Emerging notions such
as ambiguity (e.g. Maestri 2017, Oesch 2017, Stel 2016), uncertainty (e.g. Biehl
2015), volatility (e.g. Fisher 2018), discretion (e.g. Darling 2016, Gill et al
2017), in/visibilisation (e.g. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh 2016), inconsistency (e.g. Gill
et al 2015), improvisation, and more, are increasingly used to analyse the
governance of the im/mobility of refugees, as well as the issue of borders. These
notions are used in geography and other disciplines to study topics such as camps,
walls, deportation, resettlement, refugee status determination, asylum seekers’
reception, irregular migration, and so on. This is true for both studies in the
Global South and North. These notions fall within an
attempt to explain and conceptualise the complexity of forced migration and
borders, and the way they are governed. Indeed, they highlight contradictory
dynamics and paradoxical processes. However,
there has been hitherto little attempt to think across these notions and to
reflect on them as analytical and conceptual tools in the study of forced migration
and borders. This panel aims at bringing together contributions referring to
these emerging notions in order to explore their commonalities and diversity. Among
a multiplicity of approaches that has been used to grasp these notions, there has
been a wide reference to the Foucauldian perspective by conceiving them as
strategies or effects of dispositifs of government. However, this panel is not limited
to this perspective, and aims at reflecting on the various conceptual
approaches used in the production of these emerging notions. It also seeks to
understand the effects of such strategies or effects of government, both on
governmental practices themselves and on the subjectivities of refugees.

Emerging notions such
as ambiguity (e.g. Maestri 2017, Oesch 2017, Stel 2016), uncertainty (e.g. Biehl
2015), volatility (e.g. Fisher 2018), discretion (e.g. Darling 2016, Gill et al
2017), in/visibilisation (e.g. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh 2016), inconsistency (e.g. Gill
et al 2015), improvisation, and more, are increasingly used to analyse the
governance of the im/mobility of refugees, as well as the issue of borders. These
notions are used in geography and other disciplines to study topics such as camps,
walls, deportation, resettlement, refugee status determination, asylum seekers’
reception, irregular migration, and so on. This is true for both studies in the
Global South and North. These notions fall within an
attempt to explain and conceptualise the complexity of forced migration and
borders, and the way they are governed. Indeed, they highlight contradictory
dynamics and paradoxical processes. However,
there has been hitherto little attempt to think across these notions and to
reflect on them as analytical and conceptual tools in the study of forced migration
and borders. This panel aims at bringing together contributions referring to
these emerging notions in order to explore their commonalities and diversity. Among
a multiplicity of approaches that has been used to grasp these notions, there has
been a wide reference to the Foucauldian perspective by conceiving them as
strategies or effects of dispositifs of government. However, this panel is not limited
to this perspective, and aims at reflecting on the various conceptual
approaches used in the production of these emerging notions. It also seeks to
understand the effects of such strategies or effects of government, both on
governmental practices themselves and on the subjectivities of refugees.